Get Certified

Most Americans eat some kosher food every day, but chances are they’re not aware of it. Take a walk down the aisles of any supermarket and you will see that certification appears on over 60% of America’s produced foods that are certified kosher, from the coveted Oreo to the thirst-quenching Coca-Cola. Over $150 billion of kosher certified products are consumed annually, and spending continues to rise dramatically.

The complexities of keeping a kosher kitchen will be the topic of discussion when OU Kosher’s halachic advisors (poskim), Rabbi Yisroel Belsky and Rabbi Hershel Schachter, explore questions, issues and concerns from viewers on an OU webcast, “Kosher Home, Sweet Home,” to be held Thursday, May 29, at 2:00 p.m. on http://www.ou.org, and http://www.ouradio.org.

The webcast follows OU Kosher’s pre-Passover program, with Rabbis Belsky and Schachter, which drew a large and receptive audience in March.

“Having received much positive feedback to our recent OU Kosher pre-Pesach webcast, we are prompted to continue reaching out to ever-increasing audiences with kosher education for the general public. And what more important place is there for the kosher consumer than the kitchen,” explained Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran, OU Kosher Senior Rabbinic Coordinator and Vice President of Communications and Marketing. “We are pleased to present OU Kosher’s response to consumers’ questions, issues and concerns relating to the kitchen with the wisdom of our poskim.”

Specific areas of concern are expected to include separation of dairy and meat, multiple uses of kitchen equipment for dairy and pareve, kosherization of kitchen utensils, need for separate sinks and more.

The webcast is part of OU Kosher’s continuing and ever-growing educational outreach to the community, which includes the OU Kosher Coming to Schools and Communities programs and the Kosher Tidbits postings, now numbering close to 110 on OU Radio.

As with the Passover webcast, the audience is encouraged to send in its questions. Before the webcast, they should be directed to Rabbi Safran at , fax: 212-613-0775. During the webcast they should be directed to Rabbi Eliyahu W. Ferrell at , fax: 212-613-0701.